Fifth Chinese Daughter

Jade Snow Wong

Originally published in 1945 and now reissued with a new introduction by the author, Jade Snow Wong's story is one of struggle and achievements. These memoirs of the author's first twenty-four years are thoughtful, informative, and highly entertaining. They not only portray a young woman and her unique family in San Francisco's Chinatown, but they are rich in the details that light up a world within the world of America. The third-person singular style is rooted in Chinese literary form, reflecting cultural disregard for the individual, yet Jad Snow Wong's story also is typically American.

We first meet Jade Snow Wong the child, narrowly confined by the family and factory life, bound to respect and obey her elders while shouldering responsibility for younger brothers and sisters - a solemn child well versed in the proper order of things, who knew that punishment was sure for any infraction of etiquette. Then the schoolgirl caught in confusion between the rigid teaching of her ancestors and the strange ways of her foreign classmates. After that the college student feeling her was toward personal identity in the face of parental indifference or outright opposition. And finally the artist whose early triumphs were doubled by the knowledge that she had at long last won recognition from her family.

Contents

Introduction to the 1989 EditionAuthor's Note to the Original Edition

1. The World Was New2. The World Grows3. Forgiveness from Heaven4. Grandmother and Her World Back Home5. Lucky to Be Born a Chinese6. Uncle Kwok7. Learning the Be a Chinese Housewife8. The Taste of Independence9. Saturday's Reward and Sunday's Holiday10. "One Who or That Which Slips"11. With Eyes on China12. Cousin Kee13. A Person as Well as a Female14. Girl Meets Boy15. A Measure of Freedom16. Marriage Old and New Style17. An Unexpected Offer - and a Decision18. "Learning Can Never Be Poor or Exhausted"19. Musicians On and Off Stage20. She Finds Her Hands21. A Summer of Excitements22. Sending the Ships to War23. "A Little Child Shall Lead Them"24. Rediscovering Chinatown25. The Sanctum of Harmonious Spring26. Alas, She Was Born Too Tall27. A Life Plan Is Cast28. "The Work of One Day Is Gazed Upon for One Thousand Days"

Reviews

"A sensitive and revealing story of a Chinese American girl's coming of age in America. It is unique."-New York Herald Tribune

"A fascinating narrative, not only because of the courage and humour which shine through every page of the book, but also because it shows how the members of a typical Chinese family can adapt themselves to American conditions and take their part in the national life of the United States without losing the essentials of the cultural heritage which they rightly prize."-Times Literary Supplement